Feeder

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a feeder (B) for conveying paving mixture to a road paver, whereby the feeder has a plurality of working assemblies (M, Q,  5, 10 ) and a control area ( 12 ). According to the invention an automatic mode can be set in the control area ( 12 ) for at least one of the working assemblies, and a conveyor main switch ( 15 ) is provided upon operation of which all assemblies set to automatic mode are activated with predetermined operating parameters.

The invention relates to a feeder in accordance with the introductory portion of claim 1.

A feeder of this category follows from EP 2 110 341 A1. Similar feeders are also known from DE 299 19 242 U1, DE 299 02 419 U1, DE 298 11 212 U1, DE 298 12 115 U1, DE 297 15 467 U1, DE 295 17 342 U1 or DE 200 20 945 U1.

Road pavers are used to lay a coating made of a paving mixture, for example, made of concrete, bituminous paving mixture or asphalt, onto a square, a path or a street. Such a road paver normally has a material hopper in order to store a certain quantity of paving mixture. If the storage capacity is to be increased, a feeder is placed in front of the road paver as seen in the working direction. This feeder comprises a further material hopper, as well as a conveyor device in order to transport the paving mixture from the feeder material hopper into the material hopper of the road paver. In addition to the conveyor device, strippers, vibrators or a heater can be provided as additional work assemblies, in order to improve the conveying process and prevent the normally hot paving mixture from cooling and solidifying too soon.

Detrimental is that the operation of a conventional feeder is complicated, because the operator must adjust and switch on or switch off each working assembly separately and manually. The operation of the feeder is consequently very dependent on the experience and skill of the individual operator. Moreover, a quick change in the conveying capacity is scarcely possible, because a plurality of work units would have to be adjusted for this purpose.

The object of the invention is to improve significantly the usability of a feeder using means that are as simple as possible as far as the design is concerned.

This object is solved by a feeder with the features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the invention are given in the dependent claims.

According to the invention, it is provided that an automatic mode can be set in the control area (which can be a control console) for at least one of the working assemblies. Moreover, a conveyor main switch is provided, upon operation of which all assemblies set to automatic mode are activated with defined operating parameters. One advantage of the invention lies in the fact that the operator of each working assembly whose operation is desired must only activate it, without, however, having to set the special operating parameters of this working assembly. Rather, this working assembly is then operated automatically with previously defined operating parameters. A further advantage consists of the fact that all assemblies set to automatic mode are activated simultaneously when the conveyor main switch is operated. In this way, it is avoided that individual working assemblies have to start up idling or working against a force until all necessary working assemblies have been activated.

The automatic mode can preferably be set individually for a working assembly or individually for each of a plurality of working assemblies (or even of all working assemblies). It would be conceivable that only the following three operating modes can be set for a working assembly:

-   -   1. OFF: The assembly in question is not activated.     -   2. ON: The assembly always runs with previously defined         parameters, for example, parameters predetermined at the         factory.     -   3. AUTOMATIC: The assembly in question runs with previously         defined parameters when the conveyor main switch is operated.

Because only three operating states have to be set for each assembly, the operation of the feeder is greatly simplified. Conceivable would be an additional simplification in which a group of working assemblies together can be set into a particular operating mode by means of a single control element.

The working assemblies preferably comprise one or more conveyor assemblies, a stripper, a cleaning brush, a spaying system, a vibrator and/or a heater. Conveyor belts, conveying screws or other linear conveyors can be provided as conveyor assemblies. All of these working assemblies support the conveying capacity of the feeder.

It is expedient if the operating parameters for operating one or more working assemblies can be set and/or changed. It is particularly advantageous if the operating parameters can be set before the start of the working assembly, for example, before the start brought about by the operation of the conveyor main switch. In this case, the working assembly can be activated immediately with the selected operating parameters. An adjustability or changeability of the operating parameters allows an adjustment to changing working conditions.

The operating convenience of the feeder can be further increased if instead of it being possible to set only individual operating parameters, it is possible to set directly the relationship between individual operating parameters of one or of various working assemblies. For example, the throughput of a spraying system could be changed in relationship to the conveying capacity of the feeder in order to spray in more or less additives per unit of the conveyed paving mixture.

The controller of the feeder preferably has memory for storing the operating parameters for operating the working assemblies. The operating parameters can be read out of this memory before or when the working assembly in question is activated. Moreover, the values of the operating parameters can be changed in the memory.

Preferably a group of operating parameters of one or more working assemblies is stored in and can be retrieved from memory as a common operating program. For example, programs for a low, a medium and a high or maximum conveying capacity of the feeder can be stored by means of storing the group of operating parameters suitable for this and linking them to one another.

It is advantageous if a display field is provided in the control area. On this display field, the operator could be shown information regarding the activity and the operating parameters of the individual working assemblies. For example, menu navigation could be provided by means of which the operator can retrieve the corresponding information. The display field could also convey warning messages to the operator.

In an advantageous design variant of the invention, an override switch is provided. When or for as long as this override switch is operated, the conveying capacity of the feeder is set to a maximum value that can be set up ahead of time. In particular, the conveying capacity can be set to 100% of the possible conveying capacity. Appropriate programming of the controller ensures that all assemblies involved in the conveying capacity are involved in this short-term increase in the conveying capacity.

It is furthermore expedient if a control element, for example, a control dial or slide control, is provided on the control field, by means of which the conveying capacity of the feeder can be changed proportionally. For example, the conveying capacity could be changed by a particular factor by means of this control element. The controller of the feeder ensures that all assemblies involved in the conveying capacity automatically contribute to the desired change in the conveying capacity.

In the following, an advantageous embodiment of the invention is described in more detail on the basis of a drawing. In detail, shown are:

FIG. 1 a side-view of a feeder according to the invention and

FIG. 2 a view of the control field of the feeder.

FIG. 1 shows a feeder B for supplying e.g. road pavers with conveyed material that has good adhesion and/or that tends to solidify, particularly with hot bituminous asphalt mixture or paving material, concrete paving material or also gravel, sand or the like. The feeder B is self-propelled, has an undercarriage 1 on a chassis 2 and a hopper 3 on the front, as seen in the paving direction, that can be filled from the front or from the top or from the side. In the chassis 2, a conveyor belt M extends, starting at the material hopper 3, backwards or backwards and upwards, whereby the conveyor belt M is oriented essentially in the longitudinal direction of the feeder B and optionally can be raised or lowered or also pivoted to the side. The conveyor belt M comprises an endless conveyor substrate 4 that is supported and guided in the reversal areas on reversing wheels 5, 7 and also in between the same in drive and support systems. The upper reversing wheels 5 can function as a drive and are, for example, acted upon by a clamping device 6. The conveyor belt M and the clamping device 6 are working assemblies of the feeder B.

Transverse conveyors Q can be arranged in the material hopper 3, whereby these transverse conveyors bring conveyed material onto the conveyor belt M close to the lower reversing wheels 7. The transverse conveyors Q can be supported by conveying screws with underlying troughs and having drive shafts 8 that are supported in bearings 9. The transverse conveyors Q are a further working assembly. Heaters 10, strippers, a cleaning brush, a spraying system and/or a vibrator (not shown) can be provided as further working assemblies in the material hopper 3 or along the conveyor belt M.

A control area 12, for example, as a surface of a control console, is located on a control stand 11. This control area 12 is shown in FIG. 2. The control area 12 comprises a display field 13, for example, an LCD display. Display buttons 14 are arranged around the display 13. Using the display buttons 14, the operator can navigate through a menu on the display 13, in order to retrieve certain information there, and also to select and set operating states and operating parameters of different working assemblies M, Q, 5, 10.

Further control elements are provided on the control area, particularly a conveyor main switch 15, an override button 16 and a control dial 17.

In the following, the operating sequence of the feeder B according to the invention is described. Before switching on the conveying process, the operator first activates the control area 12. Using the display buttons 14, the operator sets the operating state of the individual working assemblies M, Q, 5, 10. The operator can thereby select one of the three settings OFF/ON/AUTOMATIC for each assembly. In the OFF operating state, the working assembly in question remains inactivated. In the ON operating state, the working assembly always runs with previously defined parameters, which can, for example, be preset at the factory. In the AUTOMATIC operating state, the assembly runs with previously set parameters when or as long as the conveyor main switch 15 is operated.

To store the operating parameters of the working assemblies M, Q, 5, 10, memory (not shown) is provided on the feeder B. The operating parameters are stored in this memory. The operating parameters can be changed by the operator making appropriate entries using the display buttons 14. It is conceivable that complete conveyor profiles that consist of a group of particular operating parameters of one or more working assemblies have already been stored. Such a conveyor profile can, for example, be adapted to the characteristics of a particular paving mixture.

The operator subsequently operates the conveyor main switch 15. As a result, each working assembly M, Q, 5, 10 that has previously been placed into automatic mode is activated simultaneously. The operation of the working assembly begins with the previously set operating parameters. By means of an appropriate operation of the conveyor main switch 15, the operation of all working assemblies in automatic mode can also be ended again simultaneously.

The buttons +/−18 make it possible to increase or decrease the conveying capacity proportionally during the operation of the feeder B. In the event of an appropriate operation of the buttons +/−18, all operating parameters of the involved and operating working assemblies relevant for the conveying capacity are adapted to the changed conveying capacity.

The override button 16 makes it possible for the operator to override the conveying process for a short time or to go to a maximum conveying capacity of the feeder B in order to bridge any possible material shortages. The maximum conveying capacity achieved in this way does not, however, have to correspond to the technically achievable maximum conveying capacity of the feeder B. It is rather the case that a percentage of the technically feasible conveying capacity can be set and taken up when the override button 16 is operated. As soon as the operator releases the override button 16, the conveying capacity of the feeder B returns to the previously set value.

Based on the depicted embodiment, the invention can be modified in many ways. For example, further working assemblies can be present, for example, a setting for the slant of the conveyor belt M. The undercarriage or the drive of the entire feeder B can also be controlled as a working assembly. 

1. Feeder for conveying a paving mixture to a road paver, wherein the feeder has a plurality of working assemblies and a control area apparatus on the control area for setting an automatic operation mode for at least one of the working assemblies, and a conveyor main switch that operates to activate all assemblies set to automatic mode, each of said assemblies being activated with predetermined operating parameters.
 2. Feeder according to claim 1, wherein the automatic mode can be set individually for a working assembly or for each of a plurality of working assemblies.
 3. Feeder according to claim 1 wherein the working assemblies comprise one or more conveying assemblies, a stripper, a cleaning brush, a spaying system, a vibrator and/or a heater or the like.
 4. Feeder according to claim 1 wherein, the operating parameters for operating the working assemblies can be set and/or changed.
 5. Feeder according to claim 1 wherein, the relationship between individual operating parameters of one or of various working assemblies can be set.
 6. Feeder according to claim 1 wherein, the controller has memory for storing the operating parameters for operating the working assemblies.
 7. Feeder according to claim 6, wherein a group of operating parameters of one or more working assemblies is stored in and can be retrieved from memory as a common operating program.
 8. Feeder according to claim 1 wherein a display field provided in the control area.
 9. Feeder according to claim 1 comprising, an override switch located in the control area.
 10. Feeder according to claim 1 which comprises a control element on the control field for by means of which the conveying capacity of the feeder can be changed proportionally is provided on the control field. 